Early voting has begun! Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6, but you can vote now. That’s right, now. Go to the Aquinnah Town Hall on Thursday, Oct. 25, from noon to 4 pm, Oct. 26 from noon to 3 pm, Monday, Oct. 29, from noon to 4 pm, Tuesday, Oct. 30, from noon to 4 pm, Thursday, Nov. 1, from noon to 4 pm, and Friday, Nov. 2, from noon to 3 pm and vote. You can go any of those days, but you can vote only once. The last day to apply for an absentee ballot for the state election is Monday, Nov. 5.
The town of Aquinnah is offering a new program this month and next month; it’s called “Walk and Talk with a Nurse.” Lila Fischer is our town nurse, and you can meet her at the Town Hall today, Oct. 25, from 10:30 to 11:30 am. As you walk with Lila, you can ask any health-related questions you may have, or discuss your general health and well-being. She will also be available after the walk to take your blood pressure. If you can’t make it today, she will be there again on Nov. 29 at the same time.
If you would like to be on the Aquinnah Halloween “Trick or Treat” list, please contact me, and I’ll be sure to hand out your address to all of our ghosts, ninjas, and superheroes.
There are many opportunities to do yoga up-Island this weekend. Cat Garfinkle will teach a Restorative Yoga Workshop at the Yoga Barn this Saturday, Oct. 27, from 3 to 5:30 pm. The cost is $35, and preregistration is suggested. You can register at catgee@me.com or call 508-693-1403. Bonnie Menton is back teaching yoga at the Old Town Hall on Sundays at 8:30 am.
The American Red Cross is hosting a blood drive on Monday, Oct. 29, from 1 to 6 pm at Alex’s Place at the Y. Blood banks are still low, so please consider donating. Appointments are recommended, but not required. For eligibility, questions and appointments, call 800-RED-CROSS, or visit RedCrossBlood.org and enter MV to schedule an appointment.
Pathway Arts will reopen at the Chilmark Tavern on Tuesday, Nov. 6, at 6:30 pm for an Open Writing and Poetry Night. All writers, poets, playwrights, lyricists, and audience members are welcome to share their words, or to relax and enjoy the readings. There will be a sign-up sheet when you get there. All Pathways events are free, and refreshments are served.
There will be a Mashpee Wampanoag Land Sovereignty Walk and Rally in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14. The walk begins at the National Museum of the American Indian at 10 am; it will end at the U.S. Capitol. This rally is in response to U.S. Department of the Interior jeopardizing the future of the tribal lands in Mashpee. This is a complicated situation which has involved at least one lawsuit thus far, but the upshot seems to be that some people (the U.S. government and an out-of-state casino developer) are questioning the tribe’s right to their tribal land and angling to remove it from their jurisdiction. Please consider joining the tribe in this walk. If you cannot make it, you can go to the tribe’s Facebook page for other ways to get involved.
Houses of Grace orientations will be happening in November and December. HOG is the overnight shelter for people without homes on Martha’s Vineyard; it runs from Jan. 1 through March 31. It is completely volunteer-staffed, and they need volunteers. Orientations are Monday, Nov. 5, at 7 pm at St. Andrews Parish Hall, and Wednesday, Dec. 5, at 7 pm at Good Shepherd Parish Center in Oak Bluffs. Volunteers for HOG work either a 6:30 to 9 pm shift or an overnight shift from 8:30 pm to 7 am. They also need volunteers outside of shift hours for different projects. Contact Father Chip with any questions: office@standrewsmv.org.
Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard is inviting all artisans, candlestick makers, knitters, and bakers to contribute to the “Handmade from the Heart” fundraiser, being held on Saturday, Dec. 8. Please call 508-693-0189 if you have items you wish to donate. All proceeds from the sale of the items will go directly to the care of patients and their families. Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard is a completely community supported program.
“Islanders Read the Classics” is continuing the Proust class taught by Philip Weinstein, the Alexander Griswold Cummins Professor of English Emeritus at Swarthmore College. It’s held at the Katharine Cornell Theater in Vineyard Haven. The course is free and open to the public. The next class will be on Nov. 14. The Proust works being discussed are “Within a Budding Grove,” pp. 549-606; “The Guermantes Way,” pp. 403-71, 487-99, and 786-819. The last class in November will be on the 28th. To register for the class, go to vhlibrary.org. Professor Weinstein recommends the Random House/Modern Library edition, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin.
Look at all the Scorpios we have in Aquinnah! Happy birthday to Isaac Taylor, who celebrates on Oct. 25, Buddy Vanderhoop and Kathy Newman, who share Oct. 29, and Arlen Roth on Oct. 30. Congratulations to Bridget Tobin, who retired from the Steamship Authority after 44 years of service. Thank you, Bridget, for all of your service to the Island community. Please tell us whom we should contact now when we have a Steamship “emergency” that only you can fix. Peter Ives retired from South Mountain Co. after 41 years on Oct. 13; there was a big party in his honor at the Chilmark Community Center. And here’s another reason to celebrate: Chilmark Chocolates reopens today.